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ANZAC Day 2005

Going to stand vigil

Australian War Memorial, Canberra

A young female member of the Royal Australian Navy proceeds at a slow march with weapon reversed to stand vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on ANZAC Day. This is a public holiday in Australia and New Zealand and commemorates the more than 11,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died, along with more than 80,000 Turkish soldiers, during the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign. This commenced with the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on the beaches of the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey at dawn on April 25 1915. Many historians regard Gallipoli as a defining moment - akin to a collective coming of age - in the emergence of modern Australian and New Zealand national identities. Public interest, especially among young Australians, in the ANZAC legend has seemingly increased in recent years. As a memorialisation of defeat rather than victory, ANZAC day is probably unique.


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Guest 25-Apr-2005 21:12
A powerful image indeed, not only for the rememberance of Gallipoli, but that 90 years ago, the idea of a female in the armed forces and not being a secretary?

A good tribute and memorial. [vote]